When Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin discussed the team’s plans for quarterback Andy Dalton last month, he said the team would not do anything that Dalton is “uncomfortable with” and that they will be in “constant communication” this offseason.
The backdrop for those comments is the expectation that the Bengals are going to use the first overall draft pick on a quarterback this April and it appears one of the things they’ll be discussing with Dalton is the possibility of a trade.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the team is willing to work with Dalton to facilitate a trade to another team “when the time is right.” That approach would give Dalton some say over his next team while also offering the Bengals a chance to gain some compensation in return for the veteran quarterback.
That outcome will rely on another team stepping up to acquire Dalton along with the contract that’s set to pay him a salary of $17.5 million in 2020.